Lock for one-piece garage doors



Sept. 8., 1970 c. E. DELANEY LOCK FOR ONE-PIECE GARAGE DOORS 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 18, 1968 Sept. 8, 1970 c. E. DELANEY3,525,994

LOCK FOR ONE-'PIECE GARAGE DOORS Filed April 18. 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 lVEN TOR. @x4/@Ms 5 f//M/fy Sept. 8, 1970 c. E. DELANEY Loox FORONE-PIECE GARAGE DoORs 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 1s, 196e v INVENTOR.

n (Hf/MS Da/wy BY M mfu United States Patent 3,526,994 LOCK FORONE-PIECE GARAGE DOORS Charles E. Delaney, Irving, Tex., assignor toOverhead Door Corporation, Dallas, Tex., a corporation of Indiana FiledApr. 18, 1968, Ser. No. 722,329 Int. Cl. E051? 11/54, 15/12 U.S. Cl.49--199 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A motorized operator forone-piece sliding and upwardly acting doors having means supporting samefor movement between open and closed positions and a track supporting acarriage which is secured to the door and is movable with the doorbetween its open and closed positions. A latch assembly is connected tothe carriage for vlocking the door in the closed position.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates in general to a motorizedoperator for a relatively large door and, more particularly, to a latchassembly attached to the operator for releasably locking said door inthe closed position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Known types of relatively large doors, suchas onepiece ygarage doors of the overhead or sliding type, arefrequently opened and closed by electromechanical operators which may beremotely controlled. In such case, it is at least desirable to provide atype of latch mechanism which locks automatically when the door movesinto the closed position, but which is also unlocked when the operatoris energized to open the door.

One common form of motorized operators for garage doors has a horizontaltrack mounted above the door and supporting a carriage movable towardand away from the door opening. The carriage is connected to the upperend of an upwardly swinging, one-piece door by a drawbar which pivotallyengages the door preferably near the centerline thereof. The door isusually hung and supported near its side edges so that the lower edge ofthe door initially moves horizontally outwardly from its closedposition. Moreover, the upper edge of the doorinitially moveshorizontally inwardly from its closed position. Thus, by manuallygrasping the lower edge of the door and moving same outwardly, it isrelatively easy to overpower the motorized mechanism, which normallydrives the carriage along the track, and thereby opens the door. Inother Words, the inward movement of the upper end of the door creates ahorizontal force which is parallel tothe length of the track and whichhas previously deed the provision of a latching mechanism which locksand unlocks automatically when the door. is closed and opened,respectively, by the motorized operator.

This problem has not been encountered in the motorized operation of theconventional, upwardly acting, multiple panel door because the initialmovement of such a door, hence the drawbar connected thereto, is upwardwhen the door is opened. That is, the drawbar is moved upwardly beforethere is any appreciable, longitudinal movement of the carriage alongthe track, and upward movement of the drawbar provides an easy means forpreventing an unauthorized opening of the door.

'Ihe latching of an electromechanical operator for a sliding door, toprevent an unauthorized opening thereof, has encountered problemssimilar to those discussed above with respect to the one-piece, upwardlyacting door.

Heretofore, it hasnot been considered feasible or possible to combinethe door latch or lock mechanism with the door operator for one-piecesliding or upwardly acting doors. That is, since the initial movement ofthese doors is normally in a horizontal, as opposed to a vertical,direction, these doors could be forced open unless a separate lockdevice was provided. However the need has long been apparent for a latchmechanism capable of locking these doors against unauthorized openingand adapted for mounting to and cooperative operation of the drawbar ofa typical, electromechanical operator, so that complete remote controlcould be effected.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide alatching mechanism for a door operator which is utilizable with slidingand upwardly acting one-piece type doors, and which is locked orunlocked automatically in response to movement of the door operator,even when remotely controlled.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a door latchingdevice, as aforesaid, which can be inexpensively and easily installed onexisting door operators with minimum concern for tolerances, or as anintegral part of a new installation.

'Other objects and purposes of this invention will be apparent topersons acquainted with apparatus of this general type upon reading thefollowing specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a motorized door operator assemblyembodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a broken, top -view of the door operating mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3 with the latch arm moved tothe unlocked position.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V--V in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 illustrates a sectional view similar to that appearing in FIG. 1and disclosing the door in a different position of operation.

FIG. 8 illustrates a sectional view similar to that appearing in FIG. 7and disclosing a different type of hardware for supporting the door.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragment of FIG. 8 showing the door in its closedposition.

FIG. 10 is a broken, fragmentary side view of the interior of a slidingdoor connected to a door operator embodying the invention.

'Certain terminology will be used in the following description forconvenience in reference only and will not be limiting. The words up,down, front and rear have reference to the described structure asappearing in FIG. 1, wherein front is leftwardly. The words inner andouter refer to directions toward and away from the geometric center ofthe device and designated parts thereof. Such terminology will includethe words above specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof and words ofsimilar import.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The objects and purposes of the invention havebeen met by providing a door operator including a carriage devicemovable along a horizontal track and having a latching mechanismconnected to one end of a drawbar mounted at its other end upon asliding or upwardly acting, one-piece door. The latch mechanism includesa lost motion device whereby the initial movement of the door operatorin the door-opening direction releases the latch, but the latch cannotbe overpowered by an opening movement of the door when the operator isinoperative. The latch locks the door automatically when the doorcloses.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION An overhead door assembly (FIGS. 1 and 7) comprisesa pair of spaced, parallel and horizontal tracks, one of which is shownat 11, and each track has its front end secured to the wall 18 of abuilding generally indicated at 19. The rear end of the track 11 (FIGS.1 and 2) is secured to a support 16 which may be connected to the wall18 or ceiling 17 of said building. The track could also be mounted on atruck van. Additional support for the track 11 may be providedconventionally to increase the sturdiness thereof.

A door or other closure member 20 is shown in closed position in FIG. 1blocking access through an opening 22 in the wall 18 of the building.The closure member 20 is preferably comprised, in this embodiment, ofsinglepiece construction which is pivotally and swingably supportedalong its lateral edges upon the vertical edge portions of the walldefining the door opening 22 by conventional hardware 21 designed forthis purpose. A bracket 23 is secured to the door 20 near its lateraledge and rotatably supports a conventional roller (not shown) which isreceived in the track 11 and is guided thereby. Another track (notshown), which may be identical to track 11, supports the other upper endedge of said door, also in a conventional manner.

A pair of channel-shaped rails 26 and 27 (FIG. 5) are supported in anyconvenient manner upon the walls 17 and 18 (FIG. 1). In this particularembodiment, the front ends of the rails 26 and 27 are secured to theWall 18 by a bracket 29, and the rear ends of the rails 26 and 27 aresecured to the wall 17 by a bracket 32. The rails 26 and 27 arepreferably positioned above the track 11 and they extend generallyparallel to the track 11.

A motor 33 is secured to the rails 26 and 27 near the rear ends thereofby a plurality of bolts 34. The output shaft 36 (FIG. 2) of the motor 33has a pulley 37 secured thereto.

A rear shaft 38 is rotatably supported upon the rails 26 and 27 andextends transversely thereof near, but frontwardly of, the motor 33. Apulley 39 is secured to an end of the shaft 38 and is radially alignedwith the pulley 37. An endless belt 41 drivingly interconnects thepulleys 37 and 39.

A sprocket 42 is secured to the shaft 38 between the rails 26 and 27. Afront shaft 43 is mounted upon the rails 26 and 27 near the front endsthereof. A pulley 44 is secured to the shaft 43 between rails 26 and 27,and is radially aligned with the sprocket 42.

A carriage 46 (FIG. l) is mounted upon and between the rails 26 and 27for longitudinal movement therealong and comprises a pair of shoes 47and 48 (FIG. 5) received within the rails 26 and 27, respectively, Whichopen toward each other. An H-shaped frame member 49 has a pair of upper,parallel flanges 51 and 52 interconnected by a web portion 53 andrespectively attached to the shoes 47 and 48 by nuts 54 and 56. A pairof vertical flanges 57 and 58 project downwardly from the web portion53, and a pair of pins or rivets 59 and 61 (FIG. 6) are secured to andextend between the flanges 57 and 58.

An L-shaped bracket 62 (FIG. 3) is secured to the upper surface of theweb portion 53 by fastening means 63, here a nut and bolt. The verticalleg 64 of the bracket 62 has an opening 65 therein for loosely receivingthe shank 68 of an eye bolt 66. A spring 67 is sleeved upon the shank 68and is held under compression between the right surface of the verticalleg 64 and a Washer 69 held against axial movement with respect to theshank I68 by a nut 71.

One end of a chain 72 is anchored upon a pin 70 which is connectedbetween the legs 57 and 58 of the H-shaped member 49. Said chain 72 thenextends rearwardly around the sprocket 42 frontwardly to a point betweenthe sprocket 42 and the pulley 44. A cable 73 is secured at one end tothe free end of the chain 72 andextends frontwardly 4 (FIG. 1) therefromaround the pulley 44, the other end of the cable being secured to theeyelet portion of the eye bolt 66.

A channel-shaped member 74, having flanges 76 and 77 depending frominterconnecting web portion 78, is received between the flanges 57 and58 of the H-shaped member 49 and is relatively movable with respecttheret0. The flanges 76 and 77 have a pair of horizontally aligned andhorizontally elongated slots, such as the slots 79 and 81 in flange 76through which the rivets 59 and 61 are slideably received. The slots 79and 81 are arranged so that the rivets simultaneously engage the meansdefining the front and rear ends of said slots.

A latch arm 82 is pivotally supported upon and 'between the flanges 76and 77 of the U-shaped member 74 by a pin or rivet 83. The latch arm `82is located between thc flanges 76 and 77 and extends frontwardly beyondsaid flanges and over the rivet 59. The latch arm 82 has an elongatednotch 84 along the lower surface (FIGS. 3 and 4) thereof, said notchhaving a front edge 86 at right angles to the length thereof and asloped edge 87 at the rear end thereof. The rivet 59 is disposed in thenotch `84 when the latch arm l82 is in the horizontal, latched position.

A U-shaped bar or catch 91 having vertical legs 92 and 93, and a crossbar 94 interconnecting the lower ends of the legs 92 and 93, is securedto the outer sides of the rails 26 and 27 by bolts 96 and 97,respectively, which extend through said legs. The upper surface of thecross bar 94 is preferably coplanar with the upper edge of the notch 84when the latch arm 82 is in the horizontal position, as illustrated inFIG. 3. The U-shaped member is secured to the rails 26 and 27 near thefront end thereof, but between the pulley 44 and sprocket 42.

A drawbar 98 is pivotally connected at one end to the U-shaped member 74by a pin 99 extending between the flanges 76 and 77 thereof. The otherend of the drawbar 98 is pivotally connected to a bracket 101 which inturn is secured to the upper end of the closure member 20, preferablynear the centerline thereof. In this particular embodiment, the drawbararm is substantially coplanar with the vertical plane defined by thesprocket 42 and pulley 44.

OPERATION While the operation of the mechanism disclosed above will beevident to skilled persons from such disclosure, it will be described infurther detail hereinbelow.

With the door 20 closed (FIG. 1) the latch arm 82 positively opposesopening of the door until said latch arm 82 is moved from its FIG. 3position to its FIG. 4 position. Such movement cannot be accomplished bya force exerted on the closure member 20. In order to release the latcharm 82, the drawbar 98 must move frontwardly (which is blocked by theengagement of the door 20 with the wall 18), or the member 49 must bemoved rearwardly with respect to the member 74, and this can only beeffected from within the building or by energizing the operator motor33.

Upon energization of the motor 33, the pulley 37 secured to the motorshaft 26 will cause rotation of pulley 39 and sprocket 42 incounterclockwise directions (FIG. 1), whereby the lower reach of chain72 is moved rearwardly. As a result, the H-shaped member 49 will beinstantly moved rearwardly relative to the U-shaped member 74, becausethe inertia of the door acting through the draw bar 98 will cause theU-shaped member 74 to remain in a stationary position while the H-shapedmember 49 moves rightwardly along the rails 26 and 27. Relative movementof the members 74 and 49 will cause movement of the rivets 59 and 61along the slots 79 and 81, respectively, from the FIG. 3 position to theFIG. 4 position during which the pin 59 will engage the sloped edge 87of the notch 84 and thereby pivot the latch arm 82 upwardly from thelatched position of FIG. 3 to the released position of FIG. 4.

Promptly after the latch arm 82 has been released, the

`motor 33 will cause a rightward movement of the carriage 46v along therails 26 and 27 whereby the closure member 20 is moved from the closedposition illustrated in PIG. 1 toward its open position as illustratedin FIG. 7.

The electrical circuitry for starting and stopping the motor 83 may beof a conventional design and may be operated by a push button or aremotely controlled switch.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate modied jamb hardware 103 which is capable ofsupporting the doory 20 without the tracks 11. The door operator,including the carriage 46, latch arm 82, catch 91 and drawbar 98 may be,and preferably are, identical with the corresponding parts shown in FIG.1.

As shown in FIG. 10, a latch mechanism 105 embodying the invention maybe used with a door operator connected by a drawbar 98A to the edge of asliding door 106. The carriage 46A, latch arm 82A and U-shaped member orcatch 91A would be constructed and perform in the same manner asdiscussed above with respect to the door 20.

It is recognized that the latch mechanism could also be utilized withthe horizontally hinged, upwardly acting type of door. However, sincethe initial movement of such a door is usually vertically upward, thelatch would not serve to prevent such a movement. That is, the hingeddoor would lbe permitted to move a small distance upwardly until theupper panel would swing inwardly, which would stop further upwardmovement. The distance the lower panel would move from the ground wouldbe negligible in some instances andcould be ignored.

Although particularly preferred embodiments of the invention have beendisclosed above for illustrative purposes, it will be understood thatvariations or modifications thereof which lie within the scope of theappended claims are fully contemplated.

` The embodiments of the invention in which are exclu- .siveI propertyor privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In a closure assembly having a closure member and means supportingsame for movement between open and closed positions, and elongated railmeans extending substantially horizontally away from the closed positionof said closure member, the combination comprising:

carriage means and rail-engaging means connected to v' said carriagemeans for movably supporting same on said rail means; n

drive means including an elongated flexible member connected to saidcarriage means for moving same along said lrail means;

support means'and means mounting same upon said carriage means forrelative movement therebetween;

linkage means extending between and pivotally conn'ected t'o said'closure member and said support means;

catch means on s aid rail means near the closed position of said closuremember;

latch means' movably mounted upon said support means for engagement withsaid catch means to hold said closure member insaid closed position; anddisengagement means for causing movement of said latch means relative tosaid support means in response to movement of said carriage means withrespect to said support means for causing disengagement of said latchmeans from said catch means.

2. The device delined in claim 1, wherein said elongated iiexible memberhas one end thereof connected directly to said carriage means, andfurther including resilient means connected between the other end ofsaid elongated flexible member and said carriage means for permittingrelative movement' between said carriage means and said flexible memberin the elongated direction of said flexible member.

3. The device dened in claim 1, wherein the means mounting the supportmeans on the carriage means includes lost-motion means for permittingmovement of said support means relative to said carriage means.

4. In a closure Aassembly having a door and means supporting same formovement between open and close positions, the combination comprising:

elongated, horizontal rail means extending away from the closed positionof said door; carriage means supported by said rail means, said carriagemeans including a carriage member and railengaging means connected tosaid carriage member for movably supporting same on said rail means;

drive means connected to said carriage means for moving same along saidrail means;

support means and lost-motion means mounting same -upon said carriagemeans for relative horizontal movement with respect thereto between twopositions;

rigid means extending between and pivotally connected to said door andsaid support means;

catch means on said rail means near the closed position g of said door;and

latch means mounted upon said support means for engagement with saidcatch means to hold said door in said closed position when said supportmeans is in one of said positions relative to said carriage means, saidlost-motion means causing disengagement of said latch means from saidcatch means due to movement of said carriage means whereby said supportmeans is moved relative to said carriage means into the other one ofsaid positions.

5. The device defined in claim 4, wherein said support means is movablewith respect to said carriage means lengthwise of said rail means; and

wherein said latch means comprises an elongated latch arm pivotallymounted at one end on said support means and having a hook on the otherend thereof, said hook being adapted to releasably engage said catchmeans when said support means is in said one position with respect tosaid carriage means.

6. The device defined in claim 4, wherein said lost motion meansincludes a pair of horizontally aligned and spaced pins secured to saidcarriage means and extending transversely of said rail means, and saidsupport means has la pair of elongated longitudinally aligned slots eX-tending lengthwise of said rail means, said pins being slideably andrespectively disposed in said slots; and

wherein said latch means comprises an elongated latch arm pivotallymounted at one end on said support means `and having a hook on the otherend thereof, said hook being adapted to releasably engage said catchmeans when said support means is in said one position.

7. The device defined in claim 6, wherein said elongated latch arm has acam ram formed on one edge thereof with said cam ram adapted to bearlagainst one of said pins as said carriage means is 4moved relative tosaid support means from said one position for camming said latch armupwardly to disengage said hook from said catch means.

8. The device defined in claim 4, wherein said drive means includes apair of spaced rotatable support members positioned adjacent oppositeends of said rail means and an elongated flexible drive elementextending between and around said support members and having at leastone end thereof fixedly connected to said carriage means.

9. The device defined in .claim 4, further including cam means coactingbetween said carriage means and said latch means for causing said latchmeans to move relative to said catch means and relative to said carriagemeans to disengage said latch means from said catch means due torelative movement between said carriage means and said support means.

10. In a closure assembly having a closure member and means supportingsame for movement between open and closed positions, and elongated railmeans extending substantially horizontally away from the closed positionof said closure member, the combination comprising:

carriage means and rail-engaging means connected to said carriage meansfor movably supporting same on said rail means; drive means including anelongated flexible member connected to said carriage means for movingsame along said rail means; latch support means and means mounting sameupon said carriage means for moving same along said rail means; linkagemeans extending between and pivotally connected to said closure memberand said latch support means; catch means on said rail means near theclosed position of said closure member; latch means mounted upon saidsupport means for engagement with said catch means to hold said closuremember in said closed position, disengagement of said latch means fromsaid catch means being efected by movement of said carriage means withrespect to said latch support means; and

means for causing disengagement of said latch means from said catchmeans as said carriage means is moved relative to said latch supportmeans from said closed position, said means including cam means `fixedlysecured to one of said carriage means and latch means and pin meanstixedly secured to the other of said carriage means and latch means forcoacting with said cam means for releasing said latch means from saidcatch means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,274,732 9/1966 Murakami 49-300X 3,435,558 4/1969 Kruse 49-201 J. KARL BELL, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl.X.R.

